Concerned About Port Time Changes

[hpecorari]

Where do I look for itinerary changes? The ncl emails go to my aunt, but I would like to make sure she doesn't miss anything

 

NCL website. Do a mock booking for the ship and date and check the Itinerary and times.

 

Harriet

[karoo]

The Jade has shaved an hour of port time for our December 12 cruise in both Roatan and Belize. We just booked the 35 day Transatlantic & Mediterranean cruise for April & May 2016. This will be my first trip to the Mediterranean and I sincerely hope NCL does not start cutting those port times as well. We have cruised 26 times, but only once on NCL. With all the changes it makes me very nervous. It seems like the company is floundering. We actually wanted to book a different cruise in December and cancel the Jade. Unfortunately, our soon needs a wheelchair accessible room and all the other cruise lines were booked up for accessible rooms.

 

 

I just completed a cruise on the Epic and port times were changed/ shortened for three of the ports. Maybe it's to save money on fuel.

[nancynana9950]

Our 10/18 Breakaway to Bermuda changed from 8:00 AM arrival to 9:00 and departure from 5:00 to 3:00. Very unhappy about this. Port Bermuda times have not reflected theses changes yet.

[Cruise4Real]

From NCL PR:

 

For the benefit of our passengers, we have decided to place governors on our ships which will limit top speeds to less than 15 knots. We expect this will add to customer satisfaction by allowing their hair to remain in place throughout the cruise. We also expect fewer hats will be blown overboard, lessening the impact of cruising on the environment.

 

And in a first for NCL, there will be no added convenience charge for this. Our new slogan: Slow Down and Enjoy Life!

[hpecorari]

Maybe it's to save money on fuel.

 

I doubt it. I think it's to get passengers back on the ship. Once the ship leaves they make a bundle with drinks, store purchases, casino, spa, etc. etc. etc.

 

Times that by 2 or 3 hours for a port or two during your cruise....by the amount of people on the ship.....

 

then times that by all the cruises/ships that are doing it...

 

I think that's why.

 

Besides, don't you use more fuel by cruising than by sitting in port?

 

Harriet

[rvsullivan]

All of this speculation about what a huge cost savings this was going to make for NCL got my attention. So I just did the math on one leg of my cruise assuming they would knock of one hour from our last port of call. On the original schedule NCL would have to average 15 mph for our sail home to meet the schedule. If they add an hour by leaving port an hour early, they have to average 14.65 mph. Difference in speed of 3 tenths of one mph. Now, I guess there would be some fuel saving there, but it is far less than what could be lost or gained from just having a head wind or tail wind while cruising. I guess there could be a small saving in port charges, but that would mean renegotiating all the port contracts. Hard to believe they can do that across the board.

[iliveinletters]

I just completed a cruise on the Epic and port times were changed/ shortened for three of the ports. Maybe it's to save money on fuel.

 

Did they let you know ahead of time that they were changing port times? I received notice a couple months ago that they were shortening our Palma hours, but I haven't heard of any additional changes. Can you tell me what other port times were changed? Thanks.

[Jane Don]

Hi everyone,

 

We are looking into these itinerary changes and were wondering if you could provide the exact ships that are being affected by the changes, and what ports have been adjusted. (Time in port has been shortened as well?)

 

Thank you!

 

~Cruise Critic staff

 

Hi Brittany. Thank you for looking into this on our behalf. I can not give you a precise list of changes but I can offer some of the major routes from what I have read.

 

Breakaway - Bermuda and southern Caribbean and Bahamas

Pride of America - at least one time in port shortened by 2 hours

Escape - shortened at every port

Dawn - both Bermuda and western Caribbean (from Houston)

 

 

Changing itineraries on so many ships, immediately, with no notification is not good business practice. People have tours booked and plans. I found out from a POA passenger who received notification of the change from a privately booked tour company.

 

Thank you in advance to Cruise Critic for helping us make sense of the changes.

[hpecorari]

Hi Brittany. Thank you for looking into this on our behalf. I can not give you a precise list of changes but I can offer some of the major routes from what I have read.

 

Escape - shortened at every port

.

 

My cruise has NOT been shortened at every port on the Escape. Tortola times have NOT changed.

 

Harriet

[Ilovesailing]

also email publicrelations@ncl.com and socialmedia@ncl.com

 

 

Thanks, I've sent emails to both of these as well.

[Ilovesailing]

Just putting this out there though.. It might not be NCL changing these policies. Now, before you all flame me, let me say this. If the Government of the ports in question are saying "you must have your ship out by this time" then guess what? NCL has to move the ship. It's the same if a port is closed. If the local government says they're closed, there is literally nothing that the cruise lines can do to stay there longer.

 

 

This is not a thread about who did it, its about the fact that's its unacceptable. You are more than welcome to continue your point on the other threads that are going on the same topic.

[Ilovesailing]

This is very unlikely especially for these small island nations that rely so heavily on cruise tourist dollars. More likely NCL is saving money on fuel costs and has made the decision that less port time equals more time that their capitve audience will spend money on the ship.

 

I totally agree.

[SissasMomE]

Hi everyone,

 

We are looking into these itinerary changes and were wondering if you could provide the exact ships that are being affected by the changes, and what ports have been adjusted. (Time in port has been shortened as well?)

 

Thank you!

 

~Cruise Critic staff

 

Escape - March 5, 2016.

[Ilovesailing]

ridiculous.

 

 

ditto

[moonieelf]

This is not a thread about who did it, its about the fact that's its unacceptable. You are more than welcome to continue your point on the other threads that are going on the same topic.

 

 

I feel I am on the topic. If the port is changed because the local government said it needed to change, then pointing the finger at NCL is just wrong. Get ALL of the facts before the witch hunt begins.

[SissasMomE]

This is not a thread about who did it, its about the fact that's its unacceptable. You are more than welcome to continue your point on the other threads that are going on the same topic.

 

Exactly. The apologists need to move on. Regardless of who did what, it is unacceptable.

Edited July 20, 2015 by SissasMomE

[Jane Don]

I feel I am on the topic. If the port is changed because the local government said it needed to change, then pointing the finger at NCL is just wrong. Get ALL of the facts before the witch hunt begins.

 

 

If you believe that in a single day, the port authorities in multiple countries in multiple bodies of water told NCL to shorten their port time, you are drinking way too much NCL KoolAid. I get that you are a cheerleader, but logic needs to play a role too.

[luvtheships]

All of this speculation about what a huge cost savings this was going to make for NCL got my attention. So I just did the math on one leg of my cruise assuming they would knock of one hour from our last port of call. On the original schedule NCL would have to average 15 mph for our sail home to meet the schedule. If they add an hour by leaving port an hour early, they have to average 14.65 mph. Difference in speed of 3 tenths of one mph. Now, I guess there would be some fuel saving there, but it is far less than what could be lost or gained from just having a head wind or tail wind while cruising. I guess there could be a small saving in port charges, but that would mean renegotiating all the port contracts. Hard to believe they can do that across the board.

 

You forgot to factor in the additional casino playing time and extra drinks selling time plus the art auction and the hallway store sales that all happen when the ship is at sea!!!! Lol

 

 

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[paulh84]

I am on the Escape 2/20/16 sailing.

 

Original port times (in our confirmation from 1/24/15) were:

-- St. Thomas: 8-6

-- Tortola: 8-4

-- Nassau: 10-6

 

Current port times:

-- St. Thomas: 7-3

-- Tortola: 8-4

-- Nassau: 12-7

 

The Nassau port time changed months ago. The St.Thomas time, just within the week. While I am sailing for the ship this time, I am really displeased regarding the change in St. Thomas. Docking an hour earlier (when nothing is open) does not help. It would be different if we had a far trip to make to get to Tortola and wanted to slow down the ship in order to save fuel. This is obviously not the case.

 

We plan on contacting NCL to let them know that we are unhappy with this change, but any real information that can be found would be wonderful.

 

We're on the same itinerary. It was already 'blah'. Now it's gone from blah to really poor. We had already planned on staying on board in Nassau, but now we will barely have time to do our planned excursion in St. Thomas. I wish I could take Escape on a Carnival itinerary but I just have too many reservations about Carnival to jump ship.

[luvtheships]

Good luck. NCL is building all of these destination ships. They do not want them sitting in port where they can't make any money. Sooner or later you are going to see 7 - 8 days cruises on the big new ships with at most 2 port days and sometimes only 1 port day. If the cruise line can't have people on the ship buying liquor, spending at the casino, shopping, etc, they can't make money.

 

If anyone has ever seen the cnbc in depth interview with Andy Stuart they would be shocked

 

While Andy was a bit evasive about certain profit making aspects of each and every individual cruise....he did admit that they count every drink...as well as every other money making aspect of each individual cruise and each pax.....

 

And then on a very very regular basis...like hourly if need be....they come up with strategies to increase revenue so as to make that particular cruise profitable

 

It wouldn't surprise me if the bean counters know exactly what they can earn shipboard by cutting 1 hour port side

 

Not the worst way to run a shareholder owned business IMHO

 

And yes.....I know all about pax satisfaction/dissatisfaction

 

But remember the vast vast majority of cruisers will have no clue as to what one less hour in port translates into .....and probably will not care as it allows them to get to the buffet faster. Lol

 

 

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[luvtheships]

There is more than plenty to do on the ship that is free. If people are going to fall for the "spend your money" traps, then they deserve to be out the cash. Outside of shore excursions, I spent less than $100 on my last cruise.

 

Newbies think you must play bingo....must order drinks to sit in the piano lounge....must take ships excursions....must buy expensive jewelry etc on a cruise

 

Seasoned cruisers might not spend much....but the idiots that fall for everything are who the cruise lines are targeting

 

The number of first time cruisers is absolutely astonishing....and they are the ones that think cruising is expensive

 

People think I'm rich for cruising so often....because their cruises were very costly they say.....but when the details emerge it is easy to see why they spent so much money.

 

 

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[Barb Nahoumi]

The Dawn to Bermuda. Originally was to arrive on Sunday at 11AM; now is set to get there at 1PM.

 

Where did it post that? I just looked up a date for 2016, the arrival time was still 11:am, with a Tuesday departure of 5:30.

[Ilovesailing]

Adding to hpecorari list

 

Pearl - October 18, 2015 sailing -

Puerto Limon, Cost Rica was 8 a.m. to 6 p.m NOW 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

Escape - January 23, 2016 sailing -

St. Thomas - was 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. NOW 7 a.m. to 3 p.m

Nassau - was 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. NOW noon to 7 p.m.

 

Gem - April 30, 2016 sailing -

Port Canaveral - was noon to 9:30 p.m. NOW noon to 9 p.m.

 

POA Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI was 8:00 am now 10:00 this port is and has been Thurs and Fri forever with NO other ships in port.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Ilovesailing

[russianmom]

Where did it post that? I just looked up a date for 2016, the arrival time was still 11:am, with a Tuesday departure of 5:30.

 

Bermuda published this schedule in April for the entire season which still shows the times we all thought we were going to get to enjoy Bermuda:

http://www.marineandports.bm/Documents/Shipping_schedules/2015_Cruise_Ship_Schedule.pdf

 

 

A weekly updated schedule is here with the new times for Breakaway:

http://www.marineandports.bm/Documents/Shipping_schedules/Weekly_Shipping.pdf

[HarpHarp]

I feel I am on the topic. If the port is changed because the local government said it needed to change, then pointing the finger at NCL is just wrong. Get ALL of the facts before the witch hunt begins.

 

We are now the FIRST ship leaving St Thomas, not the last. Having lived in St Thomas, I can tell you the Taxi drivers, store owners & restaurant owners are not happy with this change. If it was do to the port authority, the taxi authority will be meeting to have it changed. They are a very strong lobby.

 

I don't believe this at all, not a multiple ports. For those whose times haven't been changed yet, wait.

 

I would have never booked this cruise with this port time. I avoided the Getaway because the Tortola stop was too short. I'm angry at myself, because I booked my air 2 weeks ago because of the Thanksgiving holiday & passed up 2 other very attractive trips because of this cruise. Too bad I booked the air already.